Anybody mass reloading .223 ?

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sublimaze41

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The last time I bought a bunch of reloading components I did so to save money as many of us do. I also wanted to have custom loads for my favorite gun. Heck, I enjoyed it so much I even reloaded 9mm and .223. It was simple, plan an afternoon for a caliber or two and shoot for the rest of the year. Fast forward a year and now I have a new mouth to feed. I just bought a Colt M4 to go with my other Colt AR.
It appears as though I let all my reloading components get low. I was so focused on my African Plains game hunt I totally blocked out the other gun stuff. Now I want 3-4 thousand .223 to have as a shooting supply and getting the bullets, brass and primers has been a royal pain in the arse. Just getting FMJ 55 grainers has been tough. Luckily I nailed 10,000 but they were $125 per 2,000............Jeeeeze. Looking at the different threads I can see this is not a new trend. Is anybody else loading .223? Getting any factory loaded stuff is tough without paying and arm and a leg. I am loading 1,000 rounds for about $182.

once fired brass $50 per 1,000
small win primer $21 per 1,000
55Gr FMJ $63 per 1,000
3.15 # of H322 $15 per pound. $48


this gives me about 3100 FPS
with a 55gr FMJ @ 22 Gr per
round

The cost of the brass obviously goes down with subsequent reloads.

So, Is anybody else out there reloading the .223 in large numbers? Any suggestions for cutting the cost further. Since all Milsurp value priced .223 is all but gone, perhaps it isn't such a bad idea after all.
 
I haven't started yet, and I wish I had stocked up a while back. I purchased a case od win Q3131a several years ago at the price you spoke of to reload.
 
I mass produce 223. Luckly I have a few friends that reload also. Whenever we all start getting low on supplies, we all do a group buy from Powder Valley, Midway, or Widners depending on who has the best prices. You can go cheaper on your bullets and buy pulled ones, and if you can get your hands on surplus powder(WC844 or WC846), things can get even cheaper. I am lucky, I get all the brass I want each month after SWAT training so not paying for brass is a way I stay cheap. Powder Valley will combine up to 48 lbs of powder and primers under one hazmat fee. Just look around, you'll find a deal.;)
 
I got bulk powder and primers from Powder Valley. They are fantastic. Great service. If I had to buy H322 per pound where I live it would cost me $22-24.
I guess I am just feeling stupid for getting caught behind the eightball.
 
Buy a Giraud trimmer, or at least a Gracey. The former is really expensive, the latter is only expensive, but both will save you a ton of time and grief. With a Giraud, I did 4000 cases in one evening (hell on fingertips, so wear gloves). Before the Giraud, doing just 2000 took a week of evenings.

Stay away from Federal brass. It has had a problem with primer pockets getting loose after one or two loadings. They may have changed their ways now that they run Lake City, but I have doubts.

Make sure that after sizing your brass chambers freely in all your .223 chambers. Check it periodically during each run of sizing cases. Don't just rely on a headspace gauge.
 
I think NuJudge gave you some good advice . . .I don't know that I do mass reloading but I tend to do about 600 rounds at a time and by the time I finish trimming all that brass on my lyman universal trimmer I'm so sick of trimming that it almost makes me not want to shoot the ammo . ..almost. :)

I'm lucky in that I stocked up on 5.56 when it was $1.86 per box. (M193 - LC). If I ever get to the point where I don't feel like reloading I can always tap into that supply but so far I'm only shooting maybe 500-700 rounds per year of .223.

Have a good one,
Dave
 
$1.86 per box. (M193 - LC).
Click to expand...

I wish I'd had a chance to stock up on ammo at that price, I always seem to be behind the times on ammo because I'm focusing on the guns.

It looks like, short of getting surplus powder as indicated, you've cut down the price quite a bit.

But, how are you loading them? Single stage? Progressive? That might be one area to look at, like getting a 4- or 5-stage progressive press. That way, your time would be cut quite a bit. Of course, if you're doing that already, then you're maximizing your time I'd say.

BTW, I'd love to get bullets at that price - my last bag of milsurp 55gr Israeli bullets was over $100.
 
Adventurer_96, Grafs has Hornady 55gr FMJBT bullets for ~$60/k, including shipping, if you have an FFL, class 01 or 03.
 
I am such a CRB, that I do all of my 223 reloading on my classic cast single stage. I use the Lee trimmer, Dillon case guage, and a Lyman power chamfer tool to do all of my work. It's time consuming, but I enjoy the hobby, and it gives me something to do on a rainy day. I just did a couple thousand rounds over the past couple of weeks, and just finished loading them all this past Friday
 
i do 223 in mass as well.

i'm going to cry when my stocks are depleted.

i picked up primers last for 12.50 per k
bullets for 35 per k after shipping
brass is free
powder is 846T pulldown i got for 80 per keg
so
12.50 primers
35.00 bullets
00.00 brass
32.23 powder
79.73 per k.
 
I got the 55 grainers from Powder Valley, They are under the Hornady section. After I initially bought several thousand of these I ALMOST regreted it.... you know the justification to the wife and such. Now I can see that I did the right thing, these components are going through the roof!
I am a lucky man, This week is my birthday and I went CRAzY with my Midway Reloading birthday certificate. Poor UPS guy. Hope he has Motrin.
BTW, I will be using a Dillon 550b once the overhaul gets finished. I have been reloading with the Dillon as a single stage and dispensing the powder via an electronic Lymann. Great system until you need 500 or so reloads.

Trickyasafox........ You will need Valium to get over the price increase. I missed the boat on some but not all. Wish I would have got more 8mm, .223 and 7.62x39. BTW, just bought 1,000 rounds of Wolf Classic for $185. That nearly kills me to type that.
 
yea the worst part is alls i bought was 55gr, when i could have gotten 62's for almost the same price. the 55s are a bit too light for 300 yard line stuff, and now trying to find pulled 109s for anything sub-vomit level is near impossible


edit: just priced out primers again, up to 15.59 per k

still not terrible, but i'm not shooting remington BR anymore thats for sure. . . .
 
Last edited:
FYI
I called RVOW a couple of weeks ago and finally got someone on the phone. Their prices have gone up. Don't remember what they were but I said thank you and hung up.
Friday I ordered the last 1000 55gn that BrassManBrass had. Hopefully he will restock on the pulldowns.
 
That is nice fantasy to spread, but I do not think that web site has been updated in a couple yrs, the owner died a while back.....
Click to expand...

Well, I wasn't trying to spread a fantasy, I'd just seen a link to his website in another thread here. Sad news.
 
Buy a Giraud trimmer, or at least a Gracey. The former is really expensive, the latter is only expensive, but both will save you a ton of time and grief. With a Giraud, I did 4000 cases in one evening (hell on fingertips, so wear gloves). Before the Giraud, doing just 2000 took a week of evenings.
Click to expand...

Giraud's website was down, Gracey's was up. Is the Giraud still available? I didn't see any on eBay other than at Creedmore's e-store.
 
Giraud had a sign up at Camp Perry

I went by that facility in Commercial Row several times and he was never there. I cannot get his or Creedmoor's websites to load this morning. I have no idea what's happening. The cached version of his website says that he was planning on being at Camp Perry until August 4, so maybe he's just not back yet.

Contact info:

Telephone
713-907-2695 (cell) or 281-238-0844(home)
FAX
281-232-0987
Postal address (as of 18 December 2005)
3803 Dawn Lane, Richmond, Texas 77469
Electronic mail
General Information, Sales, and Customer Support: doug at giraudtool.com

CDD
 
http://www.wideners.com/ Has 5000, 22CAL 55GR FMJBT M193 PROJECTILES for $345.00 delivered.

This is what the add says:

They are finally here! NO STEEL!These bullets are absolutely first quality, BRAND NEW, 2007 manufacture with COPPER JACKETS (NOT STEEL) and ARE NOT PULLED. They have never been loaded. Bright and shiny!!!! You won't believe the quality for the money. AND IT GETS BETTER!! WIDENER'S is prepaying the freight if you buy 5000. We ship it USPS flat rate box, so make sure you can take delivery on this box. Some people way out in the country can't take delivery, but 95% of people can receive these packages from the USPS. If you want less than 5000, order part # MB2255F and pay shipping charges.

It took us a long time to find these bullets. We have plenty, but the supply is limited and they are hard to get with most arsenals sold out. So enjoy and order plenty.

Also http://hi-techammo.com/ were selling 5000 new 62 gr bullets in a 30 ammo can. I bought a can for a delivered price of 350.00 or 7 cents each.

http://www.powdervalleyinc.com/ will have Wolf SR Primers 8-31-07 for 87.50/5000. You can get about 10 boxes of these, 50,000 primers, on one haz-mat/shipping fee. They ran a special on TAC powder a couple months back so I got a bunch.

Good buys on WC 844 are getting hard to come by but check out the following and remember, this stuff won't get any cheaper so stock up while you can.

http://www.patsreloading.com/patsrel/prices.htm http://www.gibrass.com/gunpowder.html
http://hi-techammo.com/
 
Enjoy looking at all the new links and such. I still think the deal at Powder Valley is the best deal @. $111.79 for 2,000 55 Hornady FMJ w/can. that is about 0.559 per round. Tack on another $12 for delivery. What is the difference between 55GR FMJBT M193 and .224 55 GR FMJ-BT W/C?
 
I reload 223. The last bullets I bought were M855 pulled 62 grain for $40 per 1,000. I wish I bought more than I did. A friend of mine is looking into a deal for some 55 grain tracers that won't light for $199 for 7,800 bullets. I buy small rifle primers for $16 per 1,000 and powder around $100 for 8#. Unless I figured wrong I will be loading 223 for $90 per 1,000.
Rusty
 
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